Midnight Martini has been nominated for the Lexus Stakes 2011
The 2011 Lexus Stakes may only be rated a Group 3 event this Saturday at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day but the quality of the nominations show it’s probably worthy of even more.
A host of contenders are using the Lexus Stakes as one final opportunity to potentially force their way into the Melbourne Cup field.
For others that are already in the race this is the final tune up before going into full preparations for the race that stops the nation on Tuesday November 1st.
It’s tough to get a gauge on just what the makeup of the final field might be like though with a host of horses dual nominated for the Mackinnon Stakes on the same day.
The Mackinnon is a Group 1 rated event worth a million dollars raced across a 2000m trip.
The Lexus meanwhile is only worth a quarter of that but contested over an extra 500m to make it a 2500m journey.
What this means is while the Mackinnon is a more prestigious and valuable race, in terms of a Melbourne Cup lead up the Lexus is far more suitable.
Because of this we’ll have to wait for the final field to be announced later in the week but you could expect a good deal of horses that miss the cut of the Mackinnon to drop back to the Lexus stakes.
Be wary though, a horse will be trained different in preparation for a 2000m race then it will for a 2500m race so it could be worthwhile to look for horses that are exclusively targeting the Lexus Stakes.
Horses such as Spechenka and Midnight Martini which may not have the edge in class but are both looking for the ground and come into it fully fit.
Whatever the final field in the race it would be surprising were we not to get the full contingent of 16 runners meaning we have one hell of a race in store.
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2011 Lexus Stakes Nominations
| - | Horse | Trainer | Ballot | Weight | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MIDAS TOUCH (GB) | Robert Hickmott | 1 | 58.5kg | 111 |
| 2 | LINTON | Robert Hickmott | 3 | 57kg | 108 |
| 3 | MOURAYAN (IRE) | Robert Hickmott | 2 | 57kg | 108 |
| 4 | AT FIRST SIGHT (IRE) | Robert Hickmott | 4 | 56.5kg | 106 |
| 5 | TULLAMORE (NZ) | Gai Waterhouse | 5 | 56.5kg | 106 |
| 6 | BOOMING (NZ) | Jeff Lynds | 7 | 56kg | 105 |
| 7 | THE VERMINATOR | Chris Waller | 6 | 56kg | 105 |
| 8 | GREEN MOON (IRE) | Robert Hickmott | 8 | 55.5kg | 103 |
| 9 | MOYENNE CORNICHE (GB) | Brian Ellison | 9 | 55.5kg | 103 |
| 10 | SAPTAPADI (IRE) | Brian Ellison | 11 | 55.5kg | 103 |
| 11 | LAMASERY | David Vandyke | 12 | 55kg | 102 |
| 12 | NIWOT | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 13 | 54.5kg | 101 |
| 13 | TACTIC (GB) | David Hayes | 14 | 54.5kg | 101 |
| 14 | OLDER THAN TIME | Gai Waterhouse | 10 | 53.5kg | 103 |
| 15 | ANUDJAWUN (NZ) | Shaun Dwyer | 22 | 53kg | 89 |
| 16 | COSMONAUT | Bart Cummings | 24 | 53kg | 72 |
| 17 | GALIZANI | John P Thompson | 15= | 53kg | 98 |
| 18 | HOME ON A WING | Anthony Cummings | 25 | 53kg | 89 |
| 19 | MACEDONIAN (NZ) | Peter G Moody | 19 | 53kg | 95 |
| 20 | MIDNIGHT MARTINI | Mark Kavanagh | 20= | 53kg | 93 |
| 21 | MONTGOMERY (NZ) | Colin & Cindy Alderson | 26 | 53kg | 88 |
| 22 | RAFFAELLO | Patrick F Ryan | 15= | 53kg | 98 |
| 23 | REPRISAL | David Hayes | 23 | 53kg | 82 |
| 24 | SHOWCAUSE | Frank Ritchie | 15= | 53kg | 98 |
| 25 | SPECHENKA | Ben Ahrens | 20= | 53kg | 93 |
| 26 | SUNSET CAFE | Leon Corstens | 28 | 53kg | 75 |
| 27 | TANBY | Robert Hickmott | 15= | 53kg | 98 |
| 28 | THE BLACK OAK (NZ) | Ciaron Maher | 27 | 53kg | 82 |
